A MAN whose death sparked a murder inquiry after his body was found at a waterfront flat in Southampton died after mixing drink and drugs, an inquest was told.

Lee Brackenridge, 33, had been out in the city with friend Richard Neil and had returned to Mr Neil's flat in the luxurious Ocean Village marina.

According to statements read out by Southampton coroner Keith Wiseman, Mr Brackenridge had drunk up to six pints of lager and two absinthe drinks.

Toxicology results also showed he had taken cocaine but it was impossible to say how much, Dr Bruce Addis told the court.

Cardiac failure According to his evidence the level of drink - 317mg in 100ml of blood, nearly four times the drink drive limit - was "near a toxic level" on its own and that this combined with the class A drugs probably led to an arrhythmia of the heart and eventual cardiac failure.

The court also heard from PC James Kanham, who was one of the first on the scene at the flat in Channel Way, in the early hours of July 21, after being contacted by ambulance crews.

He said paramedics had been unable to help Mr Brackenridge, who was visiting from Cambridge, as he was already dead.

Due to the circumstances and not knowing the cause of death, PC Kanham arrested both Mr Neil and a neighbour he had called on for help on suspicion of murder. Both were later released without charge.

In Mr Neil's absence, statements were read out from other officers who had spoken to him describing how him and his friend had come home and gone out onto the balcony, where Mr Brackenridge "went wobbly".

Mr Neil said he carried Mr Brackenridge into a bedroom but half and hour later, when he went to check on him, he "looked cold".

He called a neighbour who told him to phone the emergency services. Mr Neil told officers: "It's my fault, I shouldn't have bought him the drinks. Why do bad things always happen to me?"

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Wiseman said: "It is a terrible event when someone so young dies."

Police are still investigating the death of a woman at the same address two weeks later. A man remains on bail on suspicion of murder pending inquiries into the death, which is suspected to be drugs related.